Jack Garfein papers

Jack Garfein (1930-2019) was born Jakob Garfein on 2 July 1930 in Mukachevo, Czechoslovakia (Mukachevo, Ukraine) to Herman and Blanka Garfein. His father, Herman Garfein, was the son of Solomon and Frieda Garfein. His mother, Blanka Garfein (née Spiegel, 1910-1944?), was the daughter of Moses and Maria Spiegel. Jack had one sister, Hadasah (nicknamed Hady, b. 1935). He grew up in Bardejov, Czechoslovakia (Bardejov, Slovakia) where his father worked at a family-owned lumberyard called Korn & Garfein. The family lost the lumberyard when Jewish businesses were taken over by the Hlinka Guard.

In March 1942 Jewish men in Bardejov were deported, but Jack’s father fled to Hungary. Jack, along with his mother and sister, fled to Mukachevo where they hid with relatives. His father was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 where he perished. In 1944 Jack, his mother, and sister were deported from Mukachevo to Auschwitz. Jack survived eleven concentration camps, including Auschwitz, camps in Riese (Silesia), Flossenburg, Buchenwald, and Bergen-Belsen. He was liberated from Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 by the British Army. Jack’s father, mother, and sister, along with other relatives all perished in the Holocaust.

After liberation, Jack was sent by the Red Cross to a hospital in Malmö, Sweden. After his recovery, he remained in the Fliktings Lagert displaced persons camp in Almhult, Sweden for the rest of the year. He immigrated to the United States in January 1946 with the help of his uncle Joseph E. Scheinkopf. Jack briefly lived with his uncle and aunt and then was placed in a foster home in Ozone Park, Queens. He attended the Dramatic Workshop of the New School where he studied with Erwin Piscator and subsequently studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s studio. Jack went on to have a successful career as a theater and film director, producer, and writer.

He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on February 25, 1952. He married the actress Carroll Baker in 1957, and they divorced in 1969. He married two more times and had four children. Jack was involved with Holocaust education and remembrance throughout his career, discussing his experiences in speeches, newspaper articles, and public events. He died of leukemia in 2019.